Current Thoughts Scale

Abstract

The Current Thoughts Scale (CTS), which is closely related to the State Self-Esteem Scale (SSES), is a concise 20-item psychological scale designed to measure an individual’s immediate, transient self-evaluation across three distinct domains: performance, social, and appearance self-esteem. The scale is administered as a self-report questionnaire, requiring respondents to indicate how true each statement is for them at this moment using a 5-point Likert Scale. Its primary application is in experimental research where situational factors are manipulated to observe short-term changes in self-perception.

Keywords

State Self-Esteem, Self-Evaluation, Psychological Scale, Performance Self-Esteem, Social Self-Esteem, Appearance Self-Esteem, Affective State, Momentary Assessment.

Authors

Todd F. Heatherton, Janet Polivy.

Purpose

The main purpose of the Current Thoughts Scale is to quantify momentary fluctuations in self-esteem. Unlike instruments measuring trait self-esteem, which assess a stable personality characteristic, the CTS captures the dynamic nature of self-perception, providing a snapshot of an individual’s feelings of self-worth that are highly susceptible to immediate context and situational feedback.

This focus on the present state makes the scale an invaluable tool in experimental psychology, allowing researchers to measure the impact of specific interventions, success or failure feedback, or social stressors on an individual’s transient self-concept. The scale ensures that the resulting scores reflect current affective and cognitive states rather than long-term self-views.

Construct

The scale measures State Self-Esteem, which is conceptualized as the temporary feelings of self-worth or self-acceptance that an individual holds in a given situation. This construct is recognized as highly sensitive to context, environment, and recent experiences. The CTS operationalizes this construct by breaking it down into three specific, yet correlated, subdomains of self-evaluation.

The scale assumes that while global trait self-esteem may remain stable, specific domains of self-esteem (e.g., how one feels about a recent performance versus one’s current appearance) can rapidly shift based on immediate internal thoughts and external stimuli.

Validity

The original validation studies for the State Self-Esteem Scale (SSES), from which the CTS is derived, demonstrated strong evidence for construct validity. This was primarily established by showing that scale scores significantly changed in response to laboratory manipulations designed to temporarily boost or diminish self-esteem (e.g., receiving positive or negative feedback on a task).

Furthermore, convergent and discriminant validity were established through correlations with other affective measures. Scores on the CTS show expected relationships with scales measuring anxiety, mood, and depression, confirming that it measures a unique, yet related, aspect of psychological functioning—the transient self-concept.

Reliability

The Current Thoughts Scale generally demonstrates excellent internal consistency. Coefficient alpha values for the total scale score and its subscales typically fall in the range of 0.85 to 0.95, indicating that the items within the scale reliably measure the intended construct at that moment in time.

Given that the scale is designed to measure a transient psychological state, low test-retest reliability over extended periods (e.g., weeks or months) is expected and considered psychometrically appropriate. However, high short-term retest reliability (e.g., over a few minutes without intervention) would confirm that the scale is consistently capturing the immediate state self-esteem.

Factor Analysis

The scale’s structure was confirmed using factor analysis, which identified three distinct, orthogonal factors corresponding to different sources of state self-esteem. The 20 items are distributed across these factors, ensuring comprehensive coverage of the self-evaluation domain:

• Performance Self-Esteem (P): This factor assesses an individual’s current feelings of intellectual competence, academic ability, and confidence regarding task success.
• Social Self-Esteem (S): This factor measures transient feelings related to social acceptance, popularity, and concern over how one is perceived by others.
• Appearance Self-Esteem (A): This factor captures momentary satisfaction or dissatisfaction with one’s current physical appearance, body image, and perceived attractiveness.

The factors are measured using a combination of positively and negatively worded statements. Items marked with an asterisk (*) are reversed-keyed and must be inverted during scoring to accurately reflect the level of self-esteem in that dimension.

Instrument

Test Type: Self-Report Questionnaire (Psychological Scale)

Format: 20 items utilizing a 5-point Likert Scale.

Language Available: English (Original); translations are common in international research.

Population Group: General population; commonly used with university students and adults in research settings.

Age Group: Adolescents and Adults.

Population Details: Suitable for any population where the assessment of immediate, context-dependent self-concept is required, particularly in experimental designs.

Test Methodology: Respondents rate statements based on their feelings right now using the following scale:

1. not at all
2. a little bit
3. somewhat
4. very much
5. extremely

Keywords

Self-Esteem Measurement, Psychological Assessment, State Measures, Performance Anxiety, Body Image, Social Anxiety, Heatherton and Polivy, Factor Analysis.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: N/A

Affiliation Email addresses: [email protected] (Contact for specific source version)

Correspondence Address: Ronald Okada, Professor of Psychology, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Health, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M3J 1P.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The original scale (SSES) was published in 1991. It is widely used in academic and clinical research. Researchers should consult the original journal publication or the authors for specific permission requirements regarding commercial use or adaptation.

Test Year: 1991

Reference’s

Heatherton, T.F. & Polivy, J. (1991). Development and validation of a scale for measuring state self-esteem. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 60, 895-910.

Items of the Current Thoughts Scale

This is a questionnaire designed to measure what you are thinking at this moment. There is, of course, no right answer for any statement. The best answer is what you feel is true of yourself at this moment. Be sure to answer all of the items, even if you are not certain of the best answer. Again, answer these questions as they are true for you RIGHT NOW.

Using the following scale, place a number in the box to the right of the statement that indicates what is true for you at this moment:

• 1 = not at all
• 2 = a little bit
• 3 = somewhat
• 4 = very much
• 5 = extremely

Note: The statements with an asterisk are reversed-keyed items. The letter in the last column indicates the primary factor on which that item loaded in a factor analysis. The three factors were labelled performance self-esteem (P), social self-esteem (S) and appearance self-esteem (A).